Witheridge Riding Club

  Rising Stars Dressage, Conquest EC, 15th January

Dressage Rising Stars Shine!

It was great to see such a good turnout of club members for the Team Dressage competition at Conquest Riding Centre on 15th January. Everyone looked the part too and it was clear to see that many hours had been spent getting ready for the day. There seemed to be a competition “how many plaits can we get in one mane” which I think was won by Amber Griffiths this time (18) though Mary P and Freya Wright weren’t far behind. Anyway, onto the nitty gritty, the morning class was the Introductory class where the 1st 2 team members rode Intro A and 2 Intro B. Our teams ended up 4th and equal 6th, the scores were incredibly close.
Team Wheezy
Kiersten Friday Puzzle 7th individually
Catriona Fursdon Ruby 10th
Pam Roffe Silvester Just a Pleasure 4th
Sally Watts Asset Ace 9th

Team Buzz
Sally Hyde Hurry Hector 4th
Frances King Stan 13th
Amber Griffiths Georgie Twinkle 11th
Tyler Bradshaw Roly 8th

In the Preliminary class in the afternoon, our teams pulled off some lovely tests and ended the day in 1st and 2nd place which was a fantastic result and a worthy end to the day. Again the scores were very close and the difference between 1st and 2nd was only 1 point. The 1st 2 team members rode Prelim 4 and the others Prelim 18.

Team Woody
Sally Watts Wie Willheim 7th
Michele May Wodena K 5th
Sarah Midwinter Marley 4th
Freya Wright Certain Speculation 1st

Team Bullseye

Amber Griffiths Georgie Twinkle 8th
Tyler Bradshaw Roly 3rd
Mary Paxton Tiger Oats 2nd
Liz Morris Maverick 6th

So, not to gloat too much but our 2 teams did the business and we all look forward to seeing these lovely partnerships continue and progress. A special thank you to Tyler for organising the teams and for being a very efficient team manager and to all the supporters who came along.

BRC Quadrille competition, Aintree

A brief report!
 After a long weekend in Liverpool. I still don't think it sunk in that we are off to Olympia, With a 3am start on Friday morning and a 6 hour lorry journey the horses were glad to see their stables for an hour (!) before it was all systems go to get ready for the 1st rehearsal. Watching a few other teams before us, this year we knew the competition was going to be stiff. We managed to pull off a good rehearsal, then it was back to the stables to put the horses to bed. Saturday morning was an early start, as the quadrille teams were allowed to warm up in the main arena at 7am! An hour and half of riding up and down soon got the horses under control. We were taking no chances and so went back on the gallops again for 3 miles of walking! With the horses settled, it was back to the camp to continue sewing to finish off a few odd jobs. Our turnout was at 6.40 pm so we began dressing 2 1/2 hours before; this was luckily just enough time with all the help from the 20 supporters who kindly came and supported us.
The judges gave us the highest marks for our costumes, which was a great start. Then our performance was at 8.40pm. With the start of our routine not going at all to plan, we were disappointed with our performance, but we managed to pull ourselves together and carry on. When all teams were asked to line up in arena for the presentation, with only 4 going to Olympia we didn't think we stood a chance! We weren’t paying attention they called out name and it didn't sink in - then they called it again “Witheridge you’re through to Olympia”! Our supporters jumped of their seats and the shouting started, wethen realized that it was actually us! The tears flooded out with joy!
Now back in the land of living, its back to the sewing machines to get the costumes ready for the open day at Down Farm, this will be a good practice again for the horses; with 10 weeks to go we will be busy practising hard with Jai and trying to get ready for the big trip. We would like to thank the following people - without their help this big achievement would not have been possible. Trainers Jai & Helen Bratton. Grooms - Alf Broadhead, Hayley Gale, Emma Wright, Miriam May, Philip Baddick & Sam Symons. Our hat maker Jill Cronk. All those people that travelled up on the bus to support us for the day. Ros Fisher Smith for the use of her arena.

Carol Hayes